For many reasons, water may leak, flood, or otherwise enter a dwelling such as a commercial or residential building. If such water is not relatively quickly removed from the building, the water can damage components of the building such as the floor materials and/or interior walls. Restorative drying may be defined as the controlled removal of moisture from building contents and components to alleviate or eliminate water damage.
The field of restorative drying often employs the movement of air along the surface of wet materials. For example, a blower or air mover may be configured to direct a stream of air along a floor surface to remove moisture from the carpet defining the floor surface.
Blowers and air movers typically comprise a housing that contains a motor and fan blade. The motor rotates the fan blade to draw air into the housing through one or more inlets and then out of the housing through an outlet defined by the housing. The outlet is typically an elongate opening formed in one wall of the housing adjacent to a corner of the housing. To dry a floor, the housing would typically be arranged at a desired location on the floor so that the stream of air exiting the outlet moves along the floor surface. Often, a plurality (two or more) of blowers or air movers is provided to decrease drying time.
The housing of the blower or air mover typically occupies a portion of the floor surface. Accordingly, even though a plurality of air movers may be used, these air movers are typically repositioned at least once to allow the portion of the floor surface occupied by the housing or housings to be dried. The repositioning of the air movers can significantly increase the amount of time required to dry a given floor area.
The need thus exists for improved blowers and air movers that do not require repositioning to allow the area under the housing to be dried.